Moser Baer: Fiscal 3Q08 Financial Results

Moser Baer India Limited, the global technology major, today announced its financial results for the third quarter of FY ’08 ending 31st December, 2007.

Gross revenue in Q3 of FY ’08 stood at INR 5348.5 million showing an increase of 3.8% over Q3 of FY ’07 and 9% sequentially over the previous quarter of the current fiscal, driven by higher production and shipments. However, in wake of the pricing pressures in the global optical media industry, the company’s margins were adversely affected.

EBITDA for the quarter stood at INR 1189.8 million compared to INR 1633.8 million in Q3 of FY ’07. EBITDA margin stood at 22.2 % in Q3 of FY ’08, compared to 31.7% in the corresponding period in FY ’07. Cash Profit stood at INR 874.5 million for Q3 of FY’ 08 and at INR 3092.0 million for the YTD. The company registered a net loss after tax of INR 204.5 million as against a net profit after tax of INR 376.2 million recorded in Q3 of FY ’07.

According to Ratul Puri, Executive Director, Moser Baer India, “Presently, the optical media industry is facing challenging times. However, the fundamentals of the optical media business remain unchanged. Customer demand remains unabated and incremental growth will be driven by next-generation formats such as Blu-Ray in which we have technological leadership.”

“In the last quarter and the year so far, Moser Baer has pursued an aggressive strategy in order to grow volumes, consolidate the market and improve industry’s operating landscape in the long term. Also, as our new businesses achieve size and scale, they are expected to add significantly to consolidated revenues,” he added.

Yogesh Mathur, Group CFO, Moser Baer India said, “Rupee appreciation continues to be a matter of concern for us and we have implemented short-term hedging strategies to mitigate the risk. The optical media business continues to generate gross cash to sustain our aggressive strategy. In the PV business, we had set up a unique line with world-class equipment, design and technology and aimed to establish new benchmarks of operating parameters. That objective has been effectively met within a short time. The business has now achieved operational scale and is increasingly being funded independently, thereby reducing dependence on MBIL. The home entertainment business has become profitable in less than a year of operations.”

Moser Baer